


Overshadowed by the Lonely Mountain, part one

by LillaMyy



Series: Yours to Keep [2]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Angst, Drama, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-08
Updated: 2015-09-13
Packaged: 2018-04-19 18:15:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 9,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4756280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LillaMyy/pseuds/LillaMyy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is the first part of a story about promises and how they aren’t always that easy to keep.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Of Unfortunate Events

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own the characters except the ones I’ve made up, and I don’t claim that this ever happened. Neither do I get any monetary profit for writing this.
> 
> Notes: This story has been in existence for a quite long time in Finnish, but only now did I get the push to translate it into English. I’m following here the events in Peter Jackson’s movie trilogy, so some incoherencies to the book can be found here. Part of my inspiration comes also from The Hobbit-fanon. All the names found here (if they’re not already in the fandom) have been found from either here (http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/ONWomensNames.shtml) or here (http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/ONMensNames.shtml). At the beginning of each drabble, I will state the year in which the events take place and the ages of my four main characters. These drabbles do not have exactly 100 or 150 words but vary somewhere in between them, because I’m finding it very hard to say the same thing in them as in the Finnish ones and keep the word count at the same time. I'm posting this story here in two parts, because I want to have my series in their respective chronological orders and this story's ending belongs to the other chronology but not the other... : D
> 
> Here the year is 2865, so Sólveig is new-born, Kíli 1, Fíli 6 and Drengr 10 years.

## 1 – Of Unfortunate Events

 

”Shit, another girl!” Drengr complained after peeking to the cradle from behind his mother. Fíli grimaced behind him.

”Don’t complain! She is your sister”, Regnar told his son, who tried to look excited.

 

“That’s already the third girl after you”, Drengr told Fíli when the boys had left the room. The younger one nodded sulkily.

“Kíli’s the only boy who’s born after that. Can nobody make boys here?” Drengr complained.

“Ma and da could”, Fíli said proudly, but fell silent after the older gave him a hard look.

 

Unbeknownst to them the boys were regrettably right: the dwarves of Erebor who lived now in the Blue Mountains had indeed had even fewer children and amongst them were an unusual amount of girls.


	2. Celebration over Names

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here the year is 2865, so Sólveig is new-born, Kíli 1, Fíli 6 and Drengr 10 years.

## 2 – Celebration over Names

 

”Uncle Thorin! Uncle Thorin, do they reveal the name of Dren’s sister today?” Fíli asked excitedly. The little dwarf-boy had always liked parties which did not come too often in the Blue Mountains.

“So I’ve heard”, Thorin replied laughing at his excitement, even though Fíli had only a little while ago turned up his nose to yet another girl.

“What’s her name going to be?” Fíli kept asking.

“I don’t know”, Thorin answered, but this wouldn’t satisfy Fíli.

“You have to know, you know everything that happens here!”

“I wish”, Thorin sighed and continued, “If you wait a while, we can go and ask Dren and his parents about it, if you’re so interested in it.”

“Yayyy!” the little dwarf-boy rejoiced and kindly sat down by the door to wait.

 

 ~*~*~

 

Later that same day all dwarves from the Blue Mountains were gathered in the great hall. Fíli stood with his family at the front and stood on his toes to see better. Eventually Thorin grew tired of him tip-toing so he lifted him up to his shoulders which made the little boy smirk.

 

In a little while something happened at the other end of the hall and Drengr walked in proudly. Regnar and Lagnlif followed him just as proudly. Last in came the youngest of the dwarves carried by the oldest. Dwarves who stood by the walls made way and bowed so that the escort could make it to the standing stone in the middle. Gróin put the baby on it and said with a loud voice:

“Parents have decided to call her Sólveig.”

 

After the announcement the hall was filled with singing.

 

~*~*~

 

The revelation of Sólveig’s name was celebrated in the Blue Mountains for a week as was traditional for the dwarves.

 

In time even Drengr grew to like his new little sister, even though he had been a little unenthusiastic about her, because now he got even more attention. All the older dwarves kept asking him how his little sister fared. Someone could ask if she had already learned to pull her parents’ beards whereas someone else was more interested in her growing skills.

 

Fíli on the other hand was even more irritated, because after the new dwarf-child the attention had shifted from him (and Kíli) to another sibling pair. Dís watched trying not to smile as an excited Drengr told Fíli news about his sister and how the younger one shook his fist to Drengr’s turned back.


	3. Of Races

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here the year is 2869, so Sólveig is 4, Kíli 5, Fíli 10 and Drengr 14 years.

## 3 – Of Races

 

During Sólveig’s fourth summer Drengr got finally permission to join his father at the forges. She, Fíli and Kíli stared at his disappearing back in disappointment until Dís suggested that they could go to the library to see what Ori was doing. They looked at each other before they ran off. Since she was the youngest Sólveig soon began to lag behind, until Fíli stopped politely to wait her and Kíli ran off.

 

Suddenly when the library was already in view Fíli sped off, grabbed Kíli by his sleeve and stopped dead on his tracks holding his brother, too. Sólveig looked at the brothers quizzically as she sped past them to the library. The younger brother glared at the other, but he had only to point at the very happy face of Sólveig to silence him.

 

~*~*~

 

Fíli and Kíli looked from further off as Sólveig smiled at the doorway, and neither could help but smile themselves, too. Even Kíli smiled widely even though he’d protested to his brother after he forced him to give up his victory. Soon the brothers looked at each other and like from an unspoken agreement raced again towards the door.

 

Sólveig lifted her little hands to cover her face like she’d feared the brothers would slam straight into her. When the crash never happened and she heard the brothers right beside her, she lowered her hands and noticed that Fíli and Kíli had started a brawl at the doorway.

“I was here first”, Fíli claimed.

“No, I was”, Kíli argued.

“Boys”, Sólveig sighed.

 

~*~*~

 

 “What on earth is this racket?” Ori wondered and Sólveig tried to whisper to the still brawling brothers to silence.

“Fíli, Kíli, what in the name of Mahal are you doing?” Ori asked as Sólveig stood beside them trying to hint that for once they should’ve listened to her as Ori separated the two.

“We were racing…” Fíli began.

“…and I won, but…” Kíli continued.

“No you didn’t, I did”, Fíli argued against and so the brawl began anew.

“Boys, boys, stop this, it’ll do no good to anyone”, Ori said trying to make peace between the boys.

“But…” the dwarf-boys began.

“No buts, or I’m going to throw you out.”


	4. Of Impatient Students and Cloud-gazing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here the year is 2871, so Sólveig is 6, Kíli 7, Fíli 12 and Drengr 16 years.

## 4 – Of Impatient Students and Cloud-gazing

 

Sólveig looked at her parchment; Ori had decided to teach her to write, but she couldn’t be less interested. Especially as she watched how Fíli and Kíli (not to mention Drengr!) got to do whatever they pleased while she was at the library.

 

Some other time learning to write could have been fun in Sólveig’s opinion, but not when the sun was shining outside and her friends roamed free. Ori drew patiently the runes to his parchment and tried to get his frustrated student do the same.

 

After a few long hours Ori looked at her and said:

“Fine, go out. We’ll continue tomorrow!”

Sólveig jumped up and hugged Ori before she ran out of the library.

 

~*~*~

 

Sólveig sped off from the caves to find her friends but was disappointed to see them lying on their backs in the grass staring at the sky. The dwarf maiden snorted aloud, was this why she had just ran out like the wind.

“Oh, Sól, did Ori let you out already?” Fíli asked clearly after hearing her snort (or loud puffing).

“No, I ran away”, she replied still a bit disappointed with her friends.

“Sól, come see this, that one cloud looks just like Dwalin’s head”, Kíli laughed from behind his hand and Sólveig laughed. This she had to see! So she hopped to her friends and lay down in between the brothers.

“Look at that!” Kíli pointed at a huge cloud and Sólveig could not help but laugh out loud.

 

~*~*~

 

The three friends stared at the slowly passing clouds on the turquoise sky and laughed when they reminded them either of Balin’s beard or Bofur’s hat. One particularly funny-looking cloud made them squirm with laughter.

“It looks like uncle’s face on laundry day”, Kíli said and the two others rolled on the grass laughing. Kíli himself started laughing as he watched the two idiots with green backs rolling on the grass and remembering the cloud.

 

Just as all of them had recovered from laughing they heard a familiar voice behind them:

“What are you doing rolling in the grass?”

Thorin could do nothing more but roll his head at weird hobbies of dwarf children as the trio burst into a very loud laughter.


	5. Exploring the Caves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here the year is 2876, so Sólveig is 11, Kíli 12, Fíli 17 and Drengr 21 years.
> 
> Ghivashel is Khuzdul and means treasure of all treasures. (:

## 5 – Exploring the Caves

 

One morning when Sólveig went to the dining room with Kíli to have breakfast, Fíli was nowhere to be found. So the two decided to go exploring the caves by themselves.

“It’s Fíli’s problem if he misses something fun, not ours”, Kíli had replied to Sólveig when she’d asked should they look for the third.

 

Kíli and Sólveig ran around the huge caves until they heard weird noises from one of the more secluded caves. They looked at each and lifted their fingers to their lips in unison like from some unspoken agreement. They crept to peek inside the cave and found Frítha and Glóin inside hugging and snogging, where apparently the noise had come from. It just had been multiplied in the reverberating caves.

 

~*~*~

 

Kíli grimaced and pulled quickly back. He’d seen enough. However, Sólveig still lingered looking at the couple.

“What are you doing?” Kíli wondered but Sólveig shushed him. Even she didn’t know what, but something about the couple intrigued her and so she was still staring into the cave. Kíli at first tried to pull her away but in failing to do so returned to his look out place.

 

“I really love you, _ghivashel_ ”, Glóin whispered to Frítha. This sound echoed into the ears of the two spying in on them and Kíli couldn’t stop himself from making a retch. This was getting disgusting. The sound the boy had made, however, echoed into the cave and Glóin called out in shock:

“Who’s there?”

 

~*~*~

 

After hearing Glóin Kíli and Sólveig both started running as fast as they could. After they thought they’d ran far enough they stopped to lean against a wall and draw their breaths.

 

“Well that was… interesting!” Kíli said in a moment laughing making also Sólveig burst into laughter.

“I hope I won’t grow up to be like that”, Kíli continued after he finished laughing and Sólveig nodded in agreement. It would be embarrassing if they’d grow up to be like them.

“I’m probably going to stick to being by myself, just like uncle, for the rest of my life”, Kíli added.

“Yeah, me too”, Sólveig agreed. After all, it wasn’t that uncommon among dwarves to remain alone for their whole lives, everybody knew that.


	6. Of Unfair Practices and New Feelings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here the year is 2879–2880 (which means that during the first one the year changes), so Sólveig is 14–15, Kíli 15–16, Fíli 20–21 and Drengr 24–25 years.

## 6 – Of Unfair Practices and New Feelings

 

When finally even Kíli was allowed to practice his fighting skills with the older dwarves, Sólveig was left all on her own. She had always expected to be allowed to join the boys in their practices but then she was told that the girls practiced somewhere else. Sólveig was more disappointed than she wanted to confess, until Fíli and Kíli promised to teach her in secret outside their own lessons.

 

So, one time after the brothers were finished practicing they waited Sólveig in a wide chamber. After she arrived Fíli placed the carrot bag they’d procured as a practice target some feet away while Kíli tried to advise Sólveig with the use of the bow. The boys had decided it was better for Sól to learn archery because the bow wouldn’t be as heavy for her and she couldn’t hurt herself with it.

 

~*~*~

 

”Not like that, Sól, like this”, Kíli explained and tried to show her an example with his bow. When Sólveig still didn’t seem to learn the right posture Kíli pushed his bow into his brothers arms and went to guide her in person. He stepped behind Sólveig and moved her hand to the right place on the arc of the bow. Sólveig did no longer understand anything, because after Kíli had stepped so close to her, her heart had for some reason started pounding faster and faster. Now she tried her best to understand what he was telling her and at the same time stop her heart from jumping out of her chest. The touch of Kíli’s hands on her own felt tinkling, when he showed her how to shoot with a bow.

 

~*~*~

 

Kíli stood behind Sólveig and tried to concentrate on teaching her even though the smell of her hair made his head spin. He couldn’t understand where this weird feeling was coming from but he tried to put it behind him and focus on teaching. Kíli took Sólveig by the hand and showed her how to draw the bow.

“And then you just let go and hope to hit something”, Kíli said, let go of her and stepped back. At that moment he felt like he had to fast away from her or he might explode even though he didn’t understand why. After all, he had stood close to her many times and nothing had happened. This, however, didn’t feel like the same anymore.

 

~*~*~

 

Unbeknownst to the friends Dís was just passing by that very same chamber to her brother’s study. However, as she heard voices from within a chamber that should’ve been empty she peeked inside. She was just about to say something to the kids, when she noticed Kíli moving to help Sólveig with the bow. Dís felt almost like back when she, Thorin and Frerin had spied on their parents and she had to stifle her urge to laugh at the memory.

 

Dís followed from the doorway as Kíli advised Sólveig by the hand and then moved fast further away. Both their expressions were fuddled in her opinion and Dís reminded herself to keep a closer eye on those two in the future.


	7. Help from Wiser Ones

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here the year is 2880, so Sólveig is 15, Kíli 16, Fíli 21 and Drengr 25 years.

## 7 – Help from Wiser Ones

 

Sólveig was sitting alone at the library. She was thinking about yesterday when she’d tried to practice shooting with the bow with Kíli and Fíli. Unfortunately she had to emphasize the word tried because it really wasn’t working out. For some odd reason had Kíli’s closeness felt somehow… different. Sólveig couldn’t explain even to herself why, how or when, but something had changed between her and Kíli. She wasn’t even sure was it a good or a bad thing.

 

She pondered on but when her ponderings came out empty she decided to go find her mother. She could probably explain why her stomach was tickling every time she was near Kíli.

 

~*~*~

 

Sólveig found her mother (and unfortunately also Dís) while they were headed out.

“Um, mother, I have something to tell you”, Sólveig began.

“Well, darling, go on”, she replied continuing walking out with Dís. This was not going the way Sólveig had hoped because she was hoping to talk to her mom alone.

“Um, I was practicing archery yesterday with Fíli and Kíli and…” Sólveig said not able to finish her sentence.

“And?” mom wondered as she spun around to face her daughter.

“…and Kíli tried to advise me with the right posture and…” here Sólveig blushed. She could never say it, at least now that Dís was present, too!

“Yes, darling, then what happened?”

 

~*~*~

 

”…then I felt a tickling sensation in my stomach…” Sólveig muttered facing her shoes as red as a tomato. To top all that mother and Dís began laughing at her. This was utterly unbearable.

“Oh, dear child, you are in love”, mother said after a while. Sólveig looked up from her shoes.

“But… no… I…” she stammered. She didn’t want to be in love. That was the province of silly adults, not of young friends!

“It’s alright dearie, let this be our little secret”, Dís said winking. This, however, did not calm Sólveig who was absolutely distraught. She couldn’t be falling in love with her best friend now, could she?

 

~*~*~

 

It had not been too many years since Sólveig and Kíli had been laughing to a couple in love behind the corner and now she found out that she herself was in love with her friend. That wasn’t right! Why couldn’t she just stop loving Kíli? Especially when he most likely thought of her only as a friend. Sólveig didn’t want to be one of those dwarves who fell in love with someone who didn’t love her back. There were already enough of those dwarves in the Blue Mountains without her joining them. And Kíli after all had called Frítha and Glóin wusses so under no circumstances did Sólveig tell him anything about the whole thing. She could still be his friend!


	8. Of Bad Liars and Timings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here the year is 2881, so Sólveig is 16, Kíli 17, Fíli 22 and Drengr 26 years.

## 8 – Of Bad Liars and Timings

 

Few months later Kíli was sitting in his chamber thinking about the past months. He’d been having weird sensations around Sólveig the whole time and it was getting weirder. If things kept on going this way, soon he wouldn’t be able to even see her without going bonkers. Kíli had already once almost tripped over his own feet because he’d half accidentally seen Sólveig taking a bath and more than once he’d stumbled in his words when talking with her. This was nowhere near normal anymore but Kíli couldn’t explain to himself what on earth was wrong. Something had somewhere along the lines changed and he didn’t know what or why it was. But sooner or later he would have to do something about it.

 

~*~*~

 

”Kíli, what’s wrong with you these days?” Fíli asked his brother one wintry day when Kíli was once again deep in his thoughts. He didn’t even react to him so Fíli punched him.

“Wake up, earth to Kíli!” he shouted into his ear.

“What? Fíli? Did you have something to say?” Kíli asked after (finally!) realizing that the other had been trying to get his attention.

“What’s wrong, because you’re not yourself?” Fíli asked and for some reason his brother winced in response and turned to look somewhere else.

“How do you mean?” Kíli asked pretending to be normal.

“You can’t concentrate on anything”, Fíli replied, “you lose your concentration every time Sól’s around you.”

 

~*~*~

 

To Fíli’s surprise Kíli turned to face his boots blushing.

“Sól has nothing to do with this”, he claimed but Fíli didn’t believe him.

“Don’t try to trick me, you’re a bad liar”, he stated, “well, fire away, what’s going on between you and Sól?”

“Nothing”, Kíli replied evading.

“Nonsense”, Fíli said.

“No really, you can ask her yourself”, Kíli insisted.

“Okay, fine, let’s say I believe you. Why then have you been acting so weird around her?” Fíli agreed.

“Because… because I… don’t know how to be around her anymore…” Kíli mumbled quietly and immediately wished that he’d stayed quiet because Fíli burst out laughing.

 

~*~*~

 

Kíli stood hopeless beside his laughing brother. He didn’t feel like even trying to calm Fíli down after noticing it was useless. However, as he saw Sólveig approaching them Kíli grabbed his brother by the beard.

“In the name of Mahal, control yourself!” he exclaimed. Fíli laughed a little while longer before he composed himself. Younger of the brothers loosened his grip of his beard and the two started leaning on the wall casually.

“What’s going on here?” Sólveig asked the brothers as she reached them.

“Nothing”, Fíli answered.

“This is completely normal”, Kíli replied.

“Sure, the two of you are always pulling each other’s beards and standing in doorways”, Sólveig laughed to the boys who nodded trying to appear normal.


	9. Practicing Alone and Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here the year is 2882, so Sólveig is 17, Kíli 18, Fíli 23 and Drengr 27 years.

## 9 – Practicing Alone and Together

 

Couple months later Sólveig and Kíli happened to bump into each other on their way to practice. The couple had seen each other less than usually because during the past months they had been trying to reset the situation but all the awkwardness came rushing back because neither of them reacted normally to one another.

 

In the end Kíli decided to be a gentleman and let her enter the practice hall first but as her arm accidentally brushed his and sent cold shivers up and down his body Kíli was no longer sure that it had been such a great idea after all. Inside the hall Sólveig and Kíli chose their targets beside each other automatically until they realized what they’d done and Kíli moved a little further away, just in case.

 

~*~*~

 

Sólveig tried to concentrate in practicing shooting with the bow and forget that Kíli was doing the same thing almost right next to her. Somehow her gaze seemed to turn more often to her left side where he was practicing than to the target. She just couldn’t concentrate on he own practicing. Especially now that she remembered how Kíli had let her through the door first and how she had accidentally brushed his arm. Oh, how her arm had been tingling afterwards. Actually, Sólveig noticed that she was still a little confused because of that. She tried to concentrate on aiming at her target when she heard Kíli’s voice:

“Sól, what are we doing?”

 

~*~*~

 

Kíli watched as Sólveig lowered her bow.

“How do you mean?” she wondered.

“We used to be best friends and now we avoid each other”, Kíli explained. Sólveig looked to the ground embarrassed. Neither of them said anything for a while. Kíli walked up to her.

“Shall we try if this goes better together?” he asked. Sólveig lifted her gaze and looked him in the eye before she nodded.

 

Kíli went behind her, took her hands in his own and helped her put an arrow to the string of the bow. Sólveig and Kíli lifted the bow together and aimed at the target for a while before letting the string loose. The arrow hit its mark so they took another arrow from the quiver and tried again.


	10. Of Big News

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here the year is 2886–2887 (so the year changes in the middle somewhere), so Sólveig is 21–22, Kíli 22–23, Fíli 27–28 and Drengr 31–32 years.

## 10 – Of Big News

 

”Mom? Umm, could you help me with something?” Kíli asked Dís a few years later unsure of himself.

“Yes, darling, where do you need help?” Dís asked.

“Well… I… Sól…” Kíli muttered unable to form proper sentences.

“Ah, I think I know what this is about”, Dís said and pointed her son to sit down. She sat next to him and took Kíli’s hand

“Whenever you’re with Sólveig, you have butterflies in your stomach?” Dís suggested. Kíli nodded bewildered. How could mother know how he felt even though he hadn’t said anything?

“And now you don’t know what it’s about?” Dís continued and Kíli nodded again.

“Darling, you’ve fallen in love with Sólveig.”

 

~*~*~

 

Dís and Lagnlif walked straight away together to Thorin’s study without even so much as knocking.

“Thorin”, Dís said to her brother who just hummed something in return.

“THORIN!” Dís tried again. This time Thorin lifted his gaze from his parchments.

“What? Can’t you see I’m busy?”

“Thorin, this is important”, Lagnlif said and at last they had Thorin’s full attention.

“Well, how can I help you two ladies today?” Thorin asked them.

“Sólveig and Kíli like each other”, Lagnlif said. Thorin looked at them his head spinning.

“So I’ve understood”, he said and returned to his parchments.

“No, Thorin, you don’t understand. They _like_ each other”, Dís emphasized and Thorin lifted his head.

 

~*~*~

 

”Are you sure about this?” Thorin asked.

“Both of them complain about butterflies in their stomachs in each other’s company”, Lagnlif explained.

“Okay then, two dwarves have fallen in love. Why are you telling me this?” Thorin wondered.

“We want to unite our families”, Dís replied. Thorin looked at her.

”So you want to force them into marrying each other”, Thorin said.

“It’s not forcing if they already like each other”, Lagnlif disagreed.

“And it won’t be so different from Óttar and me in our time and it turned out just fine”, Dís reminded her older brother.

“Fine, but you get to tell the future husband and wife!” Thorin finally agreed. He really didn’t want to be the one delivering the news.

 

~*~*~

 

At the same time somewhere else Fíli, Kíli, Drengr and Sólveig were practicing fighting without weapons.

“Sól, Kíli we have something to tell you. Fíli and Drengr if you don’t mind stepping outside for a while?” Dís said from the door and the four stopped immediately.

“Mother, Dís, what are you doing here?” Sólveig wondered when the two extras left the room quietly. Fíli looked behind from the doorway but didn’t dare to lurk so he went elsewhere with Drengr. Lagnlif pointed to the remaining couple to sit down.

“Mother, what is this about?” Kíli wondered as well as he sat on the floor beside Sólveig.

“We think it is time for the two of you to move on…” Lagnlif began.

“…and get married”, Dís finished.


	11. Thoughts on Marriage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here the year is 2887, so Sólveig is 22, Kíli 23, Fíli 28 and Drengr 32 years.

## 11 – Thoughts on Marriage

 

Get married? With Kíli? Sólveig had no idea what to think about the whole concept. What mother and Dís suggested did hint that Kíli liked her, too, but Sólveig wasn’t still sure that she wanted to get married. She’d never thought about it even as an option and now it was offered to her. And with one of her best friends.

 

Sólveig wondered what a marriage with Kíli would even entail. Children? She was still (at least in dwarven standards) a child herself! Well, at least she’d get to be with Kíli like everybody in the Blue Mountains seemed to already think. But Sólveig realized suddenly what would Fíli have to say about it? You couldn’t forget him now could you!

 

~*~*~

 

At the same time elsewhere Kíli was going round in circles in his chamber. The thought about getting married with Sólveig had made the young dwarf prince anxious. Just when he’d thought about spending the rest of his life alone and then somebody offers him a choice. He didn’t really know how to react.

 

Somehow the thought about marriage seemed awfully remote but then again spending the rest of his life with his best friend seemed appealing to Kíli. There was just one but: getting married was supposed to result in children! Kíli had no objection against kids but the thought about having them seemed somehow scary at least at this point. Maybe if they waited a little while with Sólveig this might actually could actually work?

 

~*~*~

 

Sólveig pondered on the matter until she felt like her head would explode. Getting married to Kíli had both pros and cons but Sólveig couldn’t say at that moment of which there were more. But most of all she feared already how Fíli would take the news if she and his little brother would decide to get married.

 

Kíli pondered on his older brother because his approval meant the world to him. Of course Fíli liked Sólveig, there was no doubt about that, but what would he think about her and his brother being married. That was the one thing that Kíli pondered most at that moment. And you couldn’t forget how the marriage would affect things between him and Drengr.


	12. More Thoughts on Marriage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here the year is 2887–2888 (so somewhere in the middle the year changes), so Sólveig is 22–23, Kíli 23–24, Fíli 28–29 and Drengr 32–33 years.

## 12 – More Thoughts on Marriage

 

”Wow, so mother wants you to marry Sól?” Fíli checked from his little brother for the hundredth time. Kíli was tired of wasting his energy in replying to him so he just simply nodded.

“I… so… Wow!” This was already going round in circles. The whole time Fíli had said little else than ‘wow’ or ‘it’s a huge step’ or something along those lines. This started to irritate Kíli because he’d wanted his brother to help him.

“Can’t you really say anything else?” Kíli asked his brother who looked at him a little startled.

“Right, sorry. Just trying to get used to the idea”, Fíli said. Kíli looked at him from under his brows.

 

~*~*~

 

Fíli returned the look wincing.

“Right, you’re still not quite used to it yourself”, he muttered.

“Quite is an understatement here”, Kíli said.

“Well, at least you like Sólveig, right?” Fíli tried to cheer his brother up.

“Yes, of course I like her, she’s one of my best friends”, Kíli replied not getting where this was going.

“Well, then you could do a lot worse”, Fíli said.

“I guess… But what if Sól doesn’t want to marry me?” Kíli panicked. He didn’t want to force her into anything now.

“There’s only one way to know for sure”, Fíli pointed out.

“What?” Kíli wondered.

“Ask her.”

 

~*~*~

 

”What? You mean I just walz up to her and ask if she’d want to marry me?” Kíli joked.

”For example if you can’t think of anything better”, Fíli said.

“What? Are you insande?” Kíli asked befuddled. He’d thought of his brother’s idea as a joke.

“I can’t just go to her and ask if she wants to marry me!”

“Why not? Sól is one of your best friends so she should understand it. How can you be so sure she’s not struggling with the same thing as we speak?” Fíli responded.

“But what if she says no?” Kíli asked nervously.

”Then you’re off the hook and will move on.”

 

~*~*~

 

”Um, Sól, can I talk to you for a second?” Kíli asked one day.

“Sure, Kíli. What do you want to talk about?” she responded.

“Well, do you remember what our mothers wanted us…” Kíli said unable to finish his sentence.

“…us to get married. Yes, I remember. What about it?”

”I did some thinking and…” Kíli began a little unsure of himself.

“…and came to the conclusion that if… if you want it, then maybe it could be a good idea”, Kíli finished mumbling inaudibly.

“You know what? I… I was thinking the same…” Sólveig said a little unsure of herself, too.

“Really? So, you, you like me, too?” Kíli checked.

”Yes, Kíli, I like you, too.”


	13. Of Promises and Gossips

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here the year is 2888–2889 (so the year changes between the second and last one), so Sólveig is 23–24, Kíli 24–25, Fíli 29–30 and Drengr 33–34 years.

## 13 – Of Promises and Gossips

 

So, on a midsummer’s eve Sólveig and Kíli left (allegedly) in their own time to the forest nearby. They’d agreed on meeting there by a certain pond. The couple wanted privacy so they’d agreed on meeting in secret.

 

After arriving by the pond they talked about this and that, swam until they were sick of it and laughed just like they used to. After the swimming trip Kíli picked a flower by the pond and attached it to Sólveig’s wet braid. The dwarf pressed his forehead gently against her, grey eyes faced the brown eyes and both of them felt the familiar tingling in the guts.

 

After that day nothing was the same in Sólveig and Kíli’s lives. Two young hearts were promised to one another as they returned holding hands.

 

~*~*~

 

Unknown to the young couple a pair of eyes followed their homecoming smiling in the shadows. Dís watched as Kíli escorted Sólveig to the door of her chamber. The two rubbed their noses together by the door before Sólveig vanished inside and Kíli began walking towards his chamber.

 

Dís smiled knowingly before she went to Lagnlif and Regnar the good news. Unfortunately Óttar wasn’t here to witness this but maybe he’d see Kíli and Sólveig together after he returned to the Blue Mountains from his trip. Now Dís had to get Sólveig’s parents to understand that not only did they want but the young couple obviously wanted to make it official. They just maybe didn’t know it yet.

 

~*~*~

 

”Did you know that the prince is getting married?”

“I heard that there’s a wedding on the way!”

“Want to bet that the brown-haired maiden is the bride.”

These and other gossips passed like wildfire through the Blue Mountains during the next few months. Sólveig and Kíli tried their best to avoid questions from curious dwarves as to what kind of their wedding ceremony would be like or who their escorts would be until at last Fíli growled to an older couple that they should leave them alone. After that Kíli and Sólveig were no longer bothered about the wedding (or anything else). Exactly because of this kind of fussing they’d wanted to keep it a secret until they were used to the idea of getting married.


	14. Making it official

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here the year is 2890, so Sólveig is 25, Kíli 26, Fíli 31 and Drengr 35 years.

## 14 – Making it official

 

Because everyone in the Blue Mountains already knew about Sólveig and Kíli being promised to one another they decided (mostly to silence Dís and Lagnlif) to make it official.

 

So, a week later the ceremony of promising was organized in the Blue Mountains. Every dwarf gathered round in the great hall that was decorated magnificently. Nervous Kíli stood at the front of the hall with his brother and uncle. The two older ones tried their best to calm him down but in vain; Kíli could barely stand still while he waited for Sólveig.

 

When the doors to the hall finally opened up, the whole hall seemed to hold their breaths. Sólveig walked with Dís and Lagnlif on her sides towards Kíli standing at the front. He, however, noticed no one else besides this young girl dressed in red fabric walking towards him.

 

~*~*~

 

Thorin watched happily beside how Kíli and Sólveig seemed to overcome their nerves as neither of them seemed to notice anyone else around them anymore. The whole hall was filled with the gleeful approval of the dwarves as Thorin carried out the promising ceremony of the prince. He watched as Kíli and Sólveig ended up in the middle of a crowd of well-wishers as soon as he was done. He laughed as he noticed one youngish dwarf-maid peeked at Fíli approvingly and how the crown prince fled from the scene.

 

However, something in the back of Thorin’s head nagged that something wasn’t as it should’ve been. He could still well remember the promising ceremony of Dís and Óttar in the ballroom of Erebor. He would’ve wanted to offer a similar ball to Kíli and Sólveig, too, because they deserved it.

 

~*~*~

 

Erebor, was it that something that had been bothering Thorin’s sleep lately? Is that the one causing his anxiety? Thorin himself couldn’t answer his own questions but he knew that he couldn’t be at peace before he knew the answer. So, the ruler of the Blue Mountains snuck out of the party as soon as he could and hoped that no one was bothered by his absence.

 

Unbeknownst to him Dís noticed her brother slipping away. She asked Balin to go and check that he was okay because she herself couldn’t (or wouldn’t) leave her own son’s promising ceremony.

 

Balin found Thorin wandering the corridors lost in his own thoughts.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Erebor”, was the only answer Balin received.


	15. Return to Everyday?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here the year is 2890–2938 (so during the third one the years really go by), so Sólveig is 25–73, Kíli 26–74, Fíli 31–79 and Drengr 35–83 years.

## 15 – Return to Everyday?

 

Unknown to the newly betrothed couple and the celebrants Thorin, Balin and Dwalin gathered a dozen dwarves and went on an adventure. The quest was meant to calm down their ruler but if it would accomplish something else that would be an added bonus.

 

A younger dwarf who wasn’t allowed on the quest was sent to deliver the message that Dís should act as the ruler in Thorin’s absence. Luckily to him he delivered the news during the ceremony because Dís was so happy that she didn’t even get the message fully.

 

After the fact that her brother had sneaked out and left her in charge finally hit her, Dís felt like screaming.

 

~*~*~

 

In the absence of the company life in the Blue Mountains returned to more or less its usual patterns if you didn’t count that Kíli and Sólveig tried to get used to living in the same chamber and Dís tried to put up with boring counsel-meetings. Fíli was in the very unlucky position where his mother decided that it was high time for the crown prince to begin taking more responsibility and so he sat often accompanying his mother in the counsel-meetings.

 

About a year later the company returned silently a little messy. Dís saved her lectures until she heard that Thorin was fine. After that the returning ruler began hoping that an orc had banged his head properly on the way back because then he wouldn’t have to put up with his sister’s lectures.

 

~*~*~

 

So after his small adventure Thorin resumed his post as a ruler but unluckily Fíli didn’t get away from attending the counsel-meetings because Thorin decided to continue the training that Dís had begun.

 

The years went by and everybody began thinking that everything was back to normal until a familiar name started going round in the Blue Mountains. Erebor. At first a single dwarf dreamt of the mountain, then another reminisced the familiar halls and a third might miss the climate of inlands.

 

One by one the dwarves of the Blue Mountains began to be haunted by the Lonely Mountain but none of them said anything out of respect for Thorin. Unknown to them Thorin had also begun to think alike. They would have to get their ancient home back.

 

~*~*~

 

One autumnal day a rumour that Thráin, his and Dís’ father, had been seen near Dunland reached Thorin’s ears. So he called his sister to him, left her again in charge and went alone in search of their father. This time Dís even dream of stopping her brother because she of all people knew how much Thorin wanted to find Thráin or at least a confirmation as to what happened to him after the Battle of Azanulbizar.

 

Thorin travelled here and there but after he reached Dunland he found nothing. Nowhere was any sign that Thráin had ever even visited the place. So he began travelling back home disappointed.

 

One rainy evening he decided to spend the night at an inn by the road.


	16. About ’the Talk’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Excuse me Tolkien, for I have sinned. So, this means that I have written something no Tolkien-fan should ever write, because these words do not fit in Tolkien’s characters mouths. :’D Here the year is 2937–2938 (so here we move a little backwards in time), so Sólveig is 72–73, Kíli 73–74, Fíli 78–79 and Drengr 82–83 years.
> 
> If someone’s wandering where Dís’ lovely speech originated from, it’s a suitable version for Middle-earth (and dwarves!) from how the same thing is explained in The Memoirs of a Geisha (movie).

## 16 – About ’the Talk’

 

While Thorin was gone Sólveig and Kíli tried to get used to the attention they were getting and to live in the same chamber. Sleeping together was quite normal for them as they had done it as kids but having all their things in the same room as well was a novel idea.

 

Most getting used to required the fact that now almost every passer-by asked them when was the wedding ceremony going to take place and when they should start expecting little ones. Mostly the latter question caused both Sólveig and Kíli to blush while the enquiring dwarf would just laugh.

 

Dís and Lagnlif watched the young couple for a while until at last they decided that it was time for them to step in.

 

~*~*~

 

So, one day Dís had Sólveig and Kíli sit on the bed in their room and pulled herself a chair opposite to them. She had decided to talk to the couple.

“I’ve noticed that you’ve been asked questions about the wedding”, she began and the couple nodded. Where on earth was this heading?

“You also get questions about children”, Dís continued and at this stage Kíli felt the urge to escape However, only the look on his mother’s face was needed to keep him still.

“So, I and Lagnlif decided that it was time for you to know how babies are made”, Dís explained and Kíli cried out loud out of embarrassment:

“Mother!”

“Don’t start, you’re both old enough to know this.”

 

~*~*~

 

So Dís explained to blushing Kíli and Sólveig all about how from time to time man’s dragon had a habit of visiting a woman’s treasure and what happened after. Sólveig and Kíli turned redder and redder the longer the speech went and neither of them knew where they should be looking so they were looking at anything but each other.

 

After Dís was finished she left a very flushed couple alone in the chambers “to practice”. Sólveig and Kíli looked at each other embarrassed before they fled from the room to opposite directions. Both of them were thinking about trying out theory in practice but neither one dared to say it out loud so they let the matter go. For the time being.


	17. Counsels and Announcements

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here the year is 2938, so Sólveig is 73, Kíli 74, Fíli 79 and Drengr 83 years.

## 17 – Counsels and Announcements

 

A few days later Thorin returned. He closed himself in his study and nobody except Balin and Dís ever saw him. A rumour that he’d seen Thráin’s ghost and that was why he’d locked himself in his study started going round in the Blue Mountains but nobody would confirm or deny it because Balin and Dís were very quiet about everything Thorin had told them behind closed doors. Fíli and Kíli noticed quickly that even eavesdropping wouldn’t help them this time because Dwalin had a habit of standing outside the door to the study leaning on his axes during these meetings. The brothers tried every trick in the book but Dwalin was unpassable.

 

~*~*~

 

Thorin was silent for about a month (even though to Fíli and Kíli it felt like a century) before he came out of his study. The first thing he did was invite all adult dwarves in the Blue Mountains to the great dining hall where he would announce something he’d long discussed with Dís and Balin.

 

Fíli, Kíli, Sólveig and Drengr were seething with excitement upon hearing that they were also counted among adults because always before this they’d been left outside. The four of them marched to front of the dining hall so that nobody would forget their presence. Sólveig watched around her as the dwarves gathered in the hall. Everywhere there were old grey-bearded men and women but there were some younger ones as well.

 

~*~*~

 

”Dear friends and family, I left here in search of my father who I unfortunately did not find”, Thorin began with a loud voice. His announcement was followed by a disappointed sigh.

“However, I found something else. A sign we’ve been waiting for many long years!”

This roused a surprised murmuring. What was this sign Thorin mentioned?

“On my travels I met a wizard who gave us a mission. A quest we’ve all wanted fulfilled. A quest my father and grand-father would have wanted us to fulfil. He asked us to return home, back to Erebor.”

The whole hall murmured even louder. Nobody had expected anything quite like this.

“Who goes with me to reclaim the home of our ancestors, our home back from the usurper, back from Smaug?”

 

~*~*~

 

Thorin’s question was followed by a loud noise but nobody reacted to it in any other ways. Fíli looked around him, noticed his brother and together the two princes stood up. Thorin looked at his nephews with pride and soon other dwarves started moving. Sólveig watched as Dwalin, Balin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Óin, Glóin, Ori, Nori and Dori joined the other three and looked at Kíli worried. Was he seriously joining the company in reclaiming back the Lonely Mountain? To fight a dragon? And just after their betrothal? Sólveig didn’t like the idea but didn’t dare to say anything in front of everyone so she decided to talk to Kíli about it when they were alone in their chamber.


	18. Plans and Bitter Goodbyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here the year is 2940–2941, so Sólveig is 75–76, Kíli 76–77, Fíli 81–82 and Drengr 85–86 years.

## 18 – Plans and Bitter Goodbyes

 

The choosing of the company was followed by months of planning the quest of Erebor. During that time Sólveig saw Kíli only rarely at nights when they got ready for bed and that didn’t seem like the time to talk to trip about the quest. Especially when he seemed so excited about the fact that he was allowed to join the company, even though ‘he still didn’t grow proper beard’ like all other dwarves protested against his going. In secret Sólveig agreed with the others but couldn’t find the words to express it. She knew that the leave-taking was getting closer and closer and that she’d have to say something before that or it would be too late.

 

~*~*~

 

When the plans were ready Sólveig realized she had to say something.

“Kíli, are you really leaving?” she asked one evening as he sat by the bed.

“Of course I am, I want to be there when we enter back to the halls of our ancestors”, Kíli replied clearly not understanding Sólveig’s question rightly. She hummed something inaudibly in return.

“How so?” Kíli wondered.

”I don’t think it’s such a good idea”, Sólveig began but continued fast after seeing Kíli’s expression, “at least not now.”

“Why not? Don’t you want to see Erebor?” Kíli asked.

”Of course I do, every dwarf wants to see it. I just don’t want you leaving right now”, Sólveig replied.

 

~*~*~

 

”So you want me to abandon the quest? Why?” Kíli asked.

“Because we’re not married yet”, Sólveig explained.

“But that’s a good thing, now we can get married in Erebor. Uncle said that mom and dad’s ceremony was much bigger than anything we could have here”, Kíli explained excited. On the other hand Sólveig did want a big ceremony by something about her didn’t want to let Kíli leave.

“I have this feeling that if you go something terrible is going to happen”, Sólveig tried to explain.

“You have a feeling… You just don’t want to let me go, but don’t you see, I have to go”, Kíli explained.

“I guess so, but just promise to come back!”

 

~*~*~

 

Few months later it was time to leave. Dís pulled both her sons a little further and hugged them tight. There was no need for words; the boys understood their mother’s wish that they’d return. Fíli joined the others in saying goodbye to the remaining dwarves but Dís asked Kíli to stay a while. She handed him a runestone and said:

“Take this to remember to come back. Not just for my sake but for Sólveig’s as well!”

Kíli nodded gravely before he, too, joined the other. He said his goodbyes to Sólveig last of all because for both of them it was the hardest goodbye. Neither of them said anything so they just pressed their foreheads together and looked each other in the eyes. In his mind Kíli promised to return.


	19. Trouble Sleeping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here the year is 2941, so Sólveig is 76, Kíli 77, Fíli 82 and Drengr 86 years. From now on I will only point out the year when it changes as we will stick to 2941 for quite some time.

## 19 – Trouble Sleeping

 

On the first night after leaving the Blue Mountains Kíli went to sleep while Fíli took the first watch but something made the younger feel weird. He huddled to his cloak and blanket and tried to make himself comfortable. But no matter how he tried he couldn’t fall asleep. He turned and turned but sleep eluded him. So he got up and started poking the fire as Fíli watched him oddly.

“I can’t sleep”, Kíli replied his brother’s mute question.

“Try again. This won’t work if you’ll fall asleep on your pony, you’ll fall down”, Fíli instructed the younger one who poked the fire one last time before he returned to his blanket.

 

~*~*~

 

Kíli resumed trying to fall asleep but nothing helped. Not humming the lullaby mother had taught him and Fíli ages ago or counting animals. So he got up again and sat by the fire.

“Don’t you dare tell me to go to sleep, because I can’t sleep”, Kíli snapped to his brother before he could even open his mouth.

“Okay, I won’t say it, but I hope you realize that you’ll have to sleep sometime”, Fíli replied.

“Of course I know that, I just can’t do it now for some reason”, Kíli said.

“I think I know why.”

“Why?”

“You miss Sól and you got too used to sleeping next to her.”

 

~*~*~

 

Kíli pondered his brother’s words as he went to sleep (they’d decided that since Kíli couldn’t sleep he might as well keep watch). Could he be right and he was just simply missing Sólveig? But if Fíli was right, how could he ever sleep on this journey?

 

Kíli pondered and pondered and came to the conclusion that Fíli was most likely right because Sólveig’s image didn’t go anywhere from his mind. He didn’t even want to think about what she must’ve felt like staying at home and waiting if he should send her a message that he’d arrived in Erebor and it was safe for her to follow him.

 

~*~*~

 

Some days later the brothers came across a small safe-looking village where Gandalf had said their burglar resided in. Fíli and Kíli left their ponies to the agreed place and went slowly forward searching for the marked door.

 

After they found it the brothers hurried up the path to a round green door. Kíli lifted his arm and pulled the string of the doorbell. A small curly-haired man appeared behind the door. Fíli and Kíli introduced themselves and bowed as they were taught to do when meeting new people. The brothers stepped inside and looked around the hole. Fíli gave his weapons to Bilbo and Kíli cleaned the soles of his boots from mud until they heard Dwalin’s voice asking them for help in moving a table.


	20. Hustling and Trouble Sleeping

## 20 – Hustling and Trouble Sleeping

 

As Fíli and Kíli’s backs had disappeared into the horizon Sólveig stared after them like hoping that Kíli would still return now and not go to this quest. She knew her hope was in vain but couldn’t stop the feeling of disappointment she felt when he didn’t turn back. Dís placed her hand on her shoulder lightly and together they turned back inside. It would be useless for them to wait for the return of the brothers outside because they had been adamant about leaving and it was a long journey to Erebor. Sólveig only hoped that the brothers would either return or send word that she (and other dwarves in the Blue Mountains) could follow them safely.

 

~*~*~

 

For the rest of the day Sólveig was all hustle and bustle around the Blue Mountains. She never complained about anything to anyone but neither did she look happy. Everybody in the Blue Mountains could see clearly that she suffered in her own way because of the separation of her and her prince but none of them could do anything about it. They couldn’t bring comfort to a situation which didn’t have a model. Even Dís and Lagnlif had trouble comforting Sólveig. They both had endured the same as she in their time, but they had also had more time with their husbands before this kind of a separation. They could only hope that for Sólveig the separation wouldn’t be permanent.

 

~*~*~

 

That night Sólveig rolled around in bed in an effort to fall asleep. She couldn’t sleep because she knew that Kíli was somewhere out there, in the cold, in danger. He did have Fíli with him, but two young dwarf princes were no match against a host of orcs if they were surprised on the way. Sólveig finally got up sweaty and began wandering the corridors. She wouldn’t find peace on her own so she found her way to her brother where she knew she’d be in peace at least for a while. Drengr let his sister in sleepily and that night the sibling slept next to each other in the longest time to ease Sólveig’s anxiety. As she fell asleep Drengr wondered that something should be done about this soon.

 

~*~*~

 

The following night Sólveig slept again with her brother. Drengr decided to talk about it with Lagnlif who said she’d take care of it. About a week after Fíli and Kíli had left Lagnlif told Sólveig to return to her own chamber and give her brother some alone time.

“But I can’t sleep on my own”, Sólveig protested.

“You won’t be sleeping on your own”, Lagnlif replied vaguely. Sólveig didn’t understanding what she was talking about but followed her to her own chamber.

 

In her chamber Sólveig found a big mattress spread on the floor on top of which three little dwarf children were sitting.

“We want a bedtime story!” one of them shouted and Sólveig sat amidst them. That night no bad dreams haunted Sólveig who was sleeping in the middle of dwarf children.


	21. In the Trollshaws

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The one line in italics is straight from the movie.

## 21 – In the Trollshaws

 

_”I said, drop him!”_ Kíli said to the three trolls trying his best to look scary even though he felt wobbly. However, he could not have known where his command would lead to, because one of the trolls threw their little burglar straight into his arms so that Kíli could not even stand up catching Bilbo mid-air.

 

Even though the dwarves fought bravely against three slow and stupid trolls, they still came up on top and soon all thirteen dwarves and one hobbit found themselves in sacks. They listened how the trolls argued about how to best cook them for a midnight snack. Few of the dwarves were hanging on a skewer while the trolls turned it over the fire. Kíli started to think that their journey would end inside their bellies.

 

~*~*~

 

At the same time in the Blue Mountains Sólveig squirmed on the mattress in the middle of dwarf children. She had no idea why, but for some reason she couldn’t fall asleep. She had woken up in the middle of the night to something peculiar and now as she tried to go back to sleep nightmares prevented it. Sólveig had no idea where were they coming from but she knew that this couldn’t go on like this. She would soon wake up everybody if she couldn’t sleep and stop squirming. The little dwarves around here were already restless enough in daytime without being deprived of sleep so Sólveig tried once more to fall asleep. If that wouldn’t work she would get up.

 

~*~*~

 

Kíli lifted his hand to cover his face so that he wouldn’t have to smell the odour coming from the troll hoard. He’d decided to sneak in behind the others even though he’d at first thought of staying out. He was too interested to see what kind of stuff would be in a troll hoard. If the smell outside was bad, the smell inside was at least ten times that.

 

Kíli was about to turn on his heels when something shiny caught his attention. He walked towards the sparkle until he noticed it coming from a silvery tiara. Kíli lifted it up and noticed the five diamonds imbedded in it. A picture of Sólveig wearing the tiara he’d just found rose to his mind without asking so he Kíli stuffed the tiara into his pocket.


	22. Hospitality of the Elves

## 22 – Hospitality of the Elves

 

Kíli looked around at dinner in Rivendell. He’d never seen even one elf and now he was suddenly completely surrounded by them. Everywhere around him were elf men and maidens each more beautiful than the other. Kíli couldn’t decide if he should look at his plate or around him. In the end he did a bit of both. As Bofur looked at him oddly Kíli began explaining how he thought that elf maidens were too thin. He didn’t want anyone to think he actually fancied them, especially since he was accustomed to completely different looking maidens. Even though he paid attention to the elves surrounding him it meant nothing, didn’t it?

 

~*~*~

 

After Dwalin had pointed out that the elf he’d been looking wasn’t a maiden and especially after everybody laughed at him Kíli began to feel ashamed about his childish enthusiasm about elves he’d never seen before. At the same time he began wondering why had he even paid any special attention them? He had Sólveig back home waiting. Sólveig who represented everything Kíli missed on the road. Home, family, warmth, even security. If he’d already found what some people looked for all their lives why was he now looking for something else? Kíli didn’t understand it at all and didn’t know who to talk to without causing a scene.

 

~*~*~

 

After dinner Kíli had decided that Balin could probably keep his mouth shut so he looked him up. He was sitting in an otherwise empty room smoking his pipe. Kíli hesitated in the doorway and almost turned away when he decided to go for it. He sat beside Balin and took his own pipe out. He didn’t even know how to start so he lit his pipe deep in thought.

“What is the matter, laddie?” Balin asked after they had sat in silence for a while. Kíli didn’t even wonder how the keen-eyed dwarf noticed that something was amiss but began telling him about everything he’d noticed about himself.

 

~*~*~

 

The following day everybody else of the dwarves except Thorin, Dwalin and Balin decided to scout around the place. They found quite by accident a very nice-looking fountain so they decided to see what bathing in an elven fountain felt like. After all it had slides and everything ready.

 

Much later that very same day the dwarves were sitting by themselves cooking food by a self-made fire. Kíli sat reading a book he’d found somewhere smoking his pipe as usual. As Bofur threw a sausage to his brother Bombur and the table under him broke from the weight Kíli could no longer concentrate on his book amidst his laughter. He, too, laughed out loud as he watched Bombur sitting suddenly on the floor and hoped that this would never end.


	23. Of the Journey and Nightmares

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The line in italics is straight from the movie.

## 23 – Of the Journey and Nightmares

 

The company had left Rivendell some time ago and were now scrambling through the Misty Mountains in a dreadful thunderstorm. It was raining and blowing so hard that they were all slipping on the mountain path. Balin notified the others that it wasn’t in fact even a thunderstorm but a thunder battle. Big stone giants were fighting around them.

 

Just moments later Kíli noticed the ground opening up between his legs. He tried to grab Fíli’s hand so that they wouldn’t get separated but in vain. The brothers looked at each other horrified when the gap between grew wider and wider. When you added to that the fact that moments later Fíli was almost crushed between two mountain walls as one stone giant died, Kíli thought it lucky that they both made it out alive.

 

~*~*~

 

At the same in the Blue Mountains Sólveig was learning to sleep alone because she’d decided to not be dependent on small children being excited about sleeping next to her. Now she was coming to the conclusion that it had been a bad idea because as soon as she lay down alone in her own bed the nightmares returned. They still made no sense, but every time she’d seen one Sólveig woke up sweaty with the sheets in a huge mess around her. Somehow she had the feeling that something was not right with Kíli even though she had no idea what made her think that. She decided anyhow to talk about it with Dís in the morning because she might be able to explain her weird nightmares. After all, she’d once been in the same position as she was now.

 

~*~*~

 

_”Fight!”_ Gandalf’s command woke the dwarves up to the situation and they started to get up from the step and find their weapons from the rubble. They made their way quickly out of Goblintown and nobody could amidst all that haste remember that their burglar was not amongst them. Kíli used at times his sword on this side and that, and at times his bow, but in the end he could not count how many goblins he’d killed or injured. He could only think about the fact that he had to get out of there so that he could see Sólveig again and that demanded fighting. Even while he was running from a legion of goblins the familiar face of the dwarf maiden was in his mind’s eye and that gave Kíli the strength to run forward.

 

~*~*~

 

After she’d washed up Sólveig went looking for Dís because she really wanted to talk to her. These continuing nightmares were really beginning to disturb her because she couldn’t sleep properly because of them and thus became grumpy.

 

Sólveig found Dís in Thorin’s office as she’d expected. She entered through the open door and sat down opposite to the older woman and waited for her to notice her.

“What’s wrong with you?” Dís asked lifting her gaze from the parchment in front of her.

“I thing that there’s something wrong with Kíli because I’ve been having these nightmares ever since he left”, Sólveig replied. Dís stood up from behind the desk and walked to close the door.

“Tell me everything”, she encouraged.


End file.
